The 8051 is an extremely popular 8-bit architecture and designers of embedded systems have long sought the flexibility of reconfigurable and programmable peripherals. To address this need, Actel developed Platform8051, a microprocessor intellectual property (IP) platform.
Platform8051 has an industry-standard ASM51 microprocessor core along with communications peripherals that are frequently used in embedded systems. The platform is modular and scalable, and the result is quick integration, minimised time to market, and a flexible chip design. It is useful in a variety of aerospace, military, industrial, communications, consumer and automotive applications.
Complete platform with many features
Embedded system designs have some common elements: sensing, control, monitoring, and communication. There is no need for an engineer to spend time integrating all of those elements for every design. Platform8051 offers a microprocessor and peripherals that include these common elements. The peripherals are optional elements of the platform; the designer just specifies which components are needed upon ordering. This platform saves the system integrator a significant amount of time (Figure 1).
Legacy 8-bit processors typically operate at only 12 MHz, 16 MHz, and 20 MHz. This is slow by today's standards. Using Actel FPGAs and Core8051, it is possible to double one's processor performance without replacing legacy software code. Core8051 performs at 45 MHz on Actel's Axcelerator devices and executes instructions in a single-cycle for most operation codes.
Core8051 is a fully functional 8-bit microprocessor intellectual property core that executes all ASM51 instructions. The core has a robust set of internal peripherals that serve software and hardware interrupts, has an interface for serial communications and includes timers and power management.
High performance peripherals
Platform8051 includes many peripherals available to communicate with the outside world.
Core10/100: is an Ethernet media access controller that connects local area networks at data rates of 10 or 100 Mbps. It has a media independent interface (MII) for physical connection and implements CSMA/CD algorithms per IEEE 802.3.
CoreI²C: is a bus controller that provides a two-wire serial interface that meets Philips I²C specification. It can transmit or receive in master or slave mode and supports data transfers at 100 Kbps and 400 Kbps. I²C is a daisy-chained bus standard used in many consumer electronic and embedded applications.
CoreSPI: is a serial peripheral interface allowing high-speed synchronous serial data transfers between the 8051 and peripheral devices. This component supports full duplex operation with 8-bit serial data transfer and acts as a master or slave. SPI is a point-to-point bus standard used in a variety of embedded applications.
CoreSDLC: is a high-speed synchronous serial data link controller. With Axcelerator it supports data transfers greater than 17 Mbps. This core is useful for ISDN, frame relay networks, and custom serial interfaces.
Core16X50: is a UART with or without FIFO support and is used for asynchronous communication. It is capable of a baud rate greater than 10 Mbps on Axcelerator devices. It adds additional serial channels to Core8051. TIM's 16X50 device is useful as a serial or modem interface.
FPGA solution and tools
With Platform8051 Actel provides a complete design solution. It includes core, testbench, documentation, and additional simulation files. The cores are available as RTL, netlist or evaluation versions. All code is compatible with standard synthesis and simulation tools.
The popular 8051 instruction code is supported by a variety of software development tools. Actel has partnered with two companies: a First Silicon Solutions Debugger and on-chip instrumentation (OCI) code is included with each purchase of Core8051 or the Platform8051, while Keil Software provides the PK51 for Core8051, a complete integrated development environment that includes an instruction-accurate and cycle-accurate simulator as well as compiler, assembler, linker, and debugger.
Development kit
The Platform8051 development kit includes an APA600-FG676 evaluation board with a pre-programmed web-server demonstration design. The board includes off-chip memory, interface devices for peripherals, and a prototyping area for user communication. Additionally, it includes Keil IDE evaluation software, Actel Libero software, power supply, a Cat-5 cable (for Ethernet), an RS232 cable and an optional FlashPro Lite debug and JTAG connector.
For more information contact Tony Dal Maso, ASIC Design Services, +27 (0)11 315 8316, [email protected]
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